Frazier International History Museum

John Lee

Indianapolis, In

I was a member of G Company, 289th Inf. Battalion, 75th Infantry Division. and first combat was in the Buldge. We replaced a unit of the 81st paatropers on the southern edge of the Buldge on the day before Christmas. I drove one of the two Jeeps and was responsible for moving food and ammunition to the troops engaged with the Germans. It was threedays after Christmas that we got food to the combat units on the front lines. The first time we tried to get food to the troops we were going up a fire break toward the troops when a mortor shell landed on the hood of the vehicle ahead of me, we stopped , turned around and went back to Company to try again the next night. For green troups we were placed into compat with poor equipment,snow and ice on the ground, in a forest against a seasoned German army. We even had to call for artillary fire on our positions to resist be over-run. We held, was replaced by the 84th Divison and moved to another place on the front. In the first 19 days of combat my company went from 187 to 42 men. I have many stories of the WWII.